First Waldemark War
The First Waldemark War was a war between Denmark under its King Waldemar IV and the Wendish Hanseatic cities under the leadership of Lübeck . It is also known as the First Hanseatic War , although it was not the first military conflict between Denmark and Hanseatic cities. The reason for the war was the dispute over dominance over trade in the then Danish Skåne .
prehistory
The Danish King Waldemar IV had freed his country from foreign rule by Holstein , Mecklenburg and Sweden and thus made trade on the Baltic Sea safer again. With the conquest of Skåne in 1360 and the pillage of Visby on Gotland in 1361 and the withdrawal of important privileges, the Hanseatic cities were severely restricted in their trade. The Wendish cities were interested in the Skåne markets because of their location, but the Prussian ones were more interested in the free passage of the Sound into the North Sea. The Westphalian cities, on the other hand, felt only indirectly affected. The Hanseatic League declared war on the Danes in September 1361 in negotiations in Greifswald, under the leadership of Lübeck's mayor Johann Wittenborg , in which the German Order of Knights and ambassadors from Sweden and Norway also participated.
Course of war
In preparation, the cities involved raised a pound tariff to finance the war. The Hansen and the Kings were to provide ships and 2,000 armed men each. The objectives of the fighting were also contractually fixed: Scania and Gotland were to fall to Sweden, the Hanseatic privileges were to be restored and the towns were to be offered lien in the conquered areas. Johann Wittenborg brought together the fleet of 48 ships (including 27 cogs ) with 2240 armed men in April 1362 off the Hiddenseer Dornbusch. Lübeck provided 600 gunmen, Stralsund and Rostock 400 each, 200 each Wismar , Greifswald and Stettin , 100 Kolberg , 50 each Stargard and Anklam and 40 Kiel . Another 300 came from Bremen and Hamburg . Johann Wittenborg besieged Helsingborg for twelve weeks without the promised help coming from Sweden or Norway. Then he was defeated by Waldemar's failure. An armistice was agreed and extended in Rostock in November 1362 until January 6, 1364, whereby the conditions for the Hanseatic cities improved. The peace of Vordingborg , concluded in 1365, remained worthless, as the Danes continued to hinder the Hanseatic trade.
consequences
A short time later the Hanseatic League tried to overcome the defeat against Denmark by joining forces in Cologne in November 1367 to form an alliance, the Cologne Confederation , which consisted of up to 57 Hanseatic cities, which was also joined by King Albrecht von in Lübeck in February 1368 Sweden and other north German and Danish nobles joined. In April 1368 there was the Second Waldemark War against Denmark, which ended in September 1369 with the capture of Helsingborg, and culminated in the Peace of Stralsund with King Waldemar of Denmark in May 1370, and an almost complete restoration of the unrestricted power of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic Sea area led.